Uranus Orbiter, The other proposed ice-giant mission |
Uranus Orbiter, The other proposed ice-giant mission |
Nov 11 2005, 05:13 PM
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#1
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Member Group: Members Posts: 509 Joined: 2-July 05 From: Calgary, Alberta Member No.: 426 |
Since the Neptune Orbiter thread has started to veer into talking about a Uranus orbiter as well, it seemed like a good idea to start a topic for Uranus.
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Sep 23 2007, 09:09 PM
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#2
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Member Group: Members Posts: 599 Joined: 26-August 05 Member No.: 476 |
Will RTG power levels be sufficient to operate all the instruments in 2030?
Re-assembling a team to run 35 year old instruments on a 20-30 year old operational model could be costly compared to operations with the current technology of the time. While it would likely be cheaper than a future ground up Uranus flyby mission, the future mission would have better instrumentation for better science return. |
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Sep 24 2007, 10:11 AM
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#3
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Interplanetary Dumpster Diver Group: Admin Posts: 4404 Joined: 17-February 04 From: Powell, TN Member No.: 33 |
Well, 42 years, really. That's how long till the next equinox (shifting from north back to south at that time). I think the problem that we run into is that in the coming decade or two, if any money comes up for Uranus and Neptune, it will be for Neptune, thanks to the fact that it put on a better show for Voyager, plus the Triton factor. In addition to not having a moon the at is active (or known to be active), a Uranus orbiter would take a hell of a lot of fuel, since it has no Galilean Moons/Titan/Triton to use for gravity assists. NH2 would have been a cool mission. At equinox, a spacecraft could have flown by much as Voyager flew through the Jovian, Saturnian, and Neptunian systems, encountering a moon at a time, for the most part. If you look at the Voyager images on the PDS, you will notice that the amount of close coverage per moon pales in comparison to the other three planets Voyager encountered, because flying through the Uranian system near solstice, it passed through like it was hitting a dart board - all the closest approaches happened at the same time, so only a handful of images could be taken.
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